Finkle Michael J, Kurth Russell, Cadle Christopher, Mullan Jessica
Public and Community Safety Division, Seattle City Attorney's Office, Seattle University School of Law, Seattle, WA 98124-4667, USA.
Behav Sci Law. 2009 Sep-Oct;27(5):767-86. doi: 10.1002/bsl.890.
It is well accepted that jail is a poor setting for treating the acutely mentally ill, yet the number of mentally ill persons in jail has increased such that Los Angeles County Jail and Riker's Island in New York house more mentally ill than any psychiatric hospital. The number of mentally ill persons charged with a crime whose competency to stand trial is in question has also increased dramatically. Inefficiencies within the competency process result in mentally ill persons charged with crimes remaining in jail longer than necessary. One solution is "competency court", a specialty court within a mental health court. The same judges, attorneys, and mental health professionals staff both courts. By combining their Mental Health Court experience, they can work with the mentally ill using their expertise in competency law and processes, and thereby improve the competency process and reduce the unnecessary time that mentally ill persons spend in jail.
人们普遍认为监狱并非治疗急性精神病患者的理想场所，但监狱中精神病患者的数量却有所增加，以至于洛杉矶县监狱和纽约的赖克斯岛关押的精神病患者比任何精神病医院都多。因犯罪被指控且受审能力存疑的精神病患者数量也急剧增加。能力评估程序效率低下导致被指控犯罪的精神病患者在监狱中停留的时间比必要时间更长。一种解决方案是设立“能力评估法庭”，这是心理健康法庭中的一个专门法庭。两个法庭由相同的法官、律师和心理健康专业人员组成。通过结合他们在心理健康法庭的经验，他们可以利用其在能力评估法律和程序方面的专业知识与精神病患者合作，从而改进能力评估程序，减少精神病患者在监狱中度过的不必要时间。
